Huntington, IN – The University of the Cumberlands volleyball team earned its second straight split defeating Brescia 3-1 (25-14, 26-24, 22-25, 25-20) before falling to 3-1 (17-25, 23-25, 25-23, 19-25) to Huntington on day two of the Huntington Invitational Saturday. After the games, the Patriots move to 2-2 on the season.

Juliet Montague led the way for UC in their win over the Bearcats recording a career-high 27 digs in the four-set match.  The matched was tied at 7-7 in the first set, UC went on a 4-1 run to take an 11-8 lead. After trading points Cumberlands recorded nine straight points, including a pair of Lexi Lester service aces to take a 23-13 advantage. Lester added a kill to help the Patriots take the first set 25-14.

The second set saw runs by both teams as UC scored five unanswered before Brescia responded with seven straight points to take a 9-5 lead. Cumberlands strung together a pair of three point rallies, however still trailed 18-16.  Later in the set, the Patriots trailed 24-21 before UC notched five straight points to take the set 26-24 and a 2-0 lead.

After dropping the third set 25-22, Cumberlands jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead with kills from Genders and Chapman.  Mackenzie Koch tallied back-to-back service aces to extend their lead to 11-5. The Bearcats responded with six unanswered points to cut the lead to even the score at 11-11.  The Patriots answered with a pair of four-point runs coupled with a three-point run to take the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.

Genders led the way with eight kills and four blocks, while Leah Crist and Koch tallied nine and four blocks, respectfully.  Anna Zuniga added 13 assists and eight digs, while Lester notched 11 digs, nine assists, and three service aces.

Genders strong played continued in the second match as she recorded a team-high 12 kills.  Lily Chapman set a season-high with ten kills but it wasn't enough as the Patriots fell to Huntington in four sets. 

After trailing 0-2, Cumberlands took a 3-1 lead in the fourth set with a pair of kills from Gender.  Huntington tallied seven straight points to take an 8-3 advantage. The Patriots chipped away at the lead until a Chapman service ace evened the score at 13-13.  After the set was tied three times, Huntington scored three straight points to take a 21-18 lead.  Koch and Chapman each recorded kills to spark a 7-2 run to win the set 25-23. 

Cumberlands looked to force a fifth set but came up short as the Foresters won the fourth set 25-19 for the 3-1 win.

The Patriots will return to action Friday, August 23, when they travel to Bowling Green, KY for the Mid-South Conference Challenge. UC will face IU Southeast at 12 p.m., before taking on Montreat at 2:30 p.m.

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